What if DreamWorks Pictures/DreamWorks Animation was founded in 1934?/Tom and Jerry: The Movie
Tom and Jerry: The Movie is a 1992 American animated musical buddy comedy-drama adventure film featuring the cat-and-mouse duo Tom and Jerry, produced and directed by Phil Roman, released by Miramax Films in the U.S. and DreamWorks Pictures in worldwide. This is the first feature-length Tom and Jerry film. It marked the characters' return to the theater screen after 25 years. Although largely mute in the original cartoons, the pair talk extensively in this film. Joseph Barbera, co-founder of Hanna-Barbera and co-creator of Tom and Jerry, served as creative consultant. It follows the story about Tom and Jerry, who are left homeless after their house being wrecked down and eventually meets and helps a little girl to escape from her child-hating abusive guardian to find her lost father. The film was released on July 30, 1993, in the United States, after having its world premiere on October 1, 1992 in Germany, and grossed $3.6 million. It was completed in 1991, and it has received negative reviews from critics who compared it to Disney's The Little Mermaid and The Rescuers. However, it later gained a cult following among audiences, mainly Tom and Jerry fanbase. It is also Dana Hill's final film role before her death on July 15, 1996. Plot While moving to a new house with their owners, Tom and Jerry get into a chase as usual resulting in Tom nailing Jerry inside his mouse hole with floorboards. Unfortunately, he misses the moving van and is forced to stay in the house after angering a nearby bulldog. The house is then demolished the next morning with Tom going back inside to rescue Jerry, leaving them both homeless. Wandering through the city for shelter, the duo meet a dog named Puggsy and his flea friend named Frankie, and upon introducing themselves, speak normally for the first time. After a brief argument, Puggsy and Frankie persuade the duo to be friends. While finding food from some nearby bins for a feast, Puggsy and Frankie are captured by two dogcatchers while Tom ends up in a tussle with some alley cats. Later, the duo cross paths with an 8-year-old girl named Robyn Starling, who has run away from home since her mother died when she was still a baby and her father was killed in a recent avalanche while on a mountain-climbing expedition; she has been living with her evil guardian "Aunt" Pristine Figg, her scheming lawyer and boyfriend Lickboot and her overweight dog Ferdinand, the latter requiring a skateboard to move around. Despite Robyn's misgivings, Tom and Jerry persuade her to return home. After Tom and Jerry end up in a massive food fight with Ferdinand and stumble across a telegram confirming that Robyn's father is still alive which Figg hides from Robyn, Figg sends them to an animal shelter run by Dr. Applecheek who turns out to be a cruel animal kidnapper and the true employer of the two dogcatchers who caught Puggsy and Frankie. Reuniting with Puggsy and Frankie in the cells, Tom and Jerry plan an escape, free all of Applecheek's captured animals (among them Droopy) and rush to tell Robyn the news. Elated, Robyn becomes determined to find her father in Tibet and they escape the city on a raft in the river but the raft is suddenly struck by a ship and they end up separated. Figg places a $1 million bounty on Robyn without even planning to give that kind of money while Robyn's father is alerted of his daughter's situation and heads back to America to find her. Robyn is then found by Captain Kiddie, the owner of a failing amusement park to which he houses her until seeing an advertisement for the reward on a milk cardboard with the help of his parrot puppet Squawk, whereupon he traps Robyn on a ferris wheel and contacts Figg. Tom and Jerry then find Robyn and they flee in a paddle steamer as Figg, Lickboot, Applecheek and the dogcatchers arrive resulting in a long chase that ends with the dogcatchers ending up trapped in the ferris wheel and Kiddie and Applecheek being left stranded in the river. Tom, Jerry and Robyn arrive at Robyn's summer cabin built by her father, but Figg, Lickboot and Ferdinand have arrived there first. In the ensuing scuffle, a lantern is accidentally knocked over starting a fire engulfing the whole cabin. Figg, Lickboot and Ferdinand flee the burning cabin with Figg knocking the door down, but they unwittingly stumble on Ferdinand's skateboard to which they fall on Kiddie's paddle steamer; the steamer goes out of control after Ferdinand inadvertently moves the ship's rudder, sailing the trio away. Tom and Jerry manage to get Robyn to the roof just as her father arrives in his helicopter. Robyn is rescued, but her father is unable to reach Tom and Jerry in time before the cabin collapses. Fortunately, the duo barely survive and are rescued. In the aftermath, Robyn takes Tom and Jerry in as her pets, while Figg, Lickboot and Ferdinand are arrested by the police and sent to prison. Just when it appears that they have found friendship, however, old habits die hard and the duo resume their antics. The film closes as Tom chases Jerry once again. Voice cast * Richard Kind as Tom * Dana Hill as Jerry * Anndi McAfee as Robyn Starling * Charlotte Rae as Aunt Pristine Figg * Tony Jay as Lickboot * Michael Bell as Ferdinand, Straycatcher #1 * Henry Gibson as Dr. J. Sweetface Applecheek * Ed Gilbert as Puggsy, Mr. Starling * David Lander as Frankie Da Flea * Rip Taylor as Captain Kiddie * Howard Morris as Squawk * Sydney Lassick as Straycatcher #2 * Don Messick as Droopy * Tino Insana as The Patrolman * B. J. Ward as Tom's Owner * Greg Burson as Moving Man * Raymond McLeod as Bulldog Reception Critical response TBD Box office TBD Other media A video game based on the movie was released for the Sega Master System in 1992 and Sega Game Gear in 1993 followed by a hand held game by Tiger Electronics released that same year. Music Musical numbers # "Friends to the End" - Pugsy, Frankie, Tom, Jerry # "What Do We Care? (The Alley Cats' Song)" - The Alley Cats # "Money Is Such a Beautiful Word" - Aunt Figg, Lickboot # "God's Little Creatures" - Dr. Applecheek # "I Miss You (Robyn's Song)" - Robyn # "I've Done It All" - Captain Kiddie, Squawk # "Finale (Friends to the End)" # "I Miss You" (End Title) - Stephanie Mills # "All in How Much We Give" - Stephanie Mills Soundtrack A soundtrack album was released by MCA Records in 1992 and included both the songs and score from the film, composed byHenry Mancini. All tracks written by Henry Mancini. Home media releases The movie was first released on VHS and Laserdisc on October 26, 1993 by DreamWorks Home Video. Then it was re-released on VHS on March 2, 1999 and the first time made its DVD debut on March 26, 2002 by Warner Home Video, although despite receiving a UK VHS release from First Independent Films, no Region 2 DVD release is as of yet currently available. Category:Alternate Reality Category:What If? Category:DreamWorks Animation Category:DreamWorks Category:Warner Bros. Category:Turner Entertainment Category:Tom and Jerry Category:Tom & Jerry